-Caveat Lector-
Seems zoo animals at risk for BSE due to being fed prion tainted
food. Since most pet food sold in the US comes from similiar
sources (processed dead animals of all kinds) it seems to me that
US pets (and zoo animals) may be at risk.
flw
>BSE - FRANCE: ZOO ANIMALS
>***********************************
>A ProMED-mail post
><http://www.healthnet.org/programs/promed.html>
>
>Date: 30 Mar 1999
>Source: NYTimes [edited]
>
>
>A number of monkeys and lemurs in French zoos appear to be infected with
the
>agent that causes "mad cow disease," [BSE -- bovine spongiform
>encephalopathy] according to a provocative study published today in
>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
>
>Although it is not the first time the disease has been found in monkeys
and
>lemurs, the extent of the infection is surprising, researchers said. When
18
>apparently healthy lemurs were euthanized and their tissues examined,
every
>animal was infected with what looked like mad cow disease.
>
>For many years, zoo animals throughout Europe were fed protein supplements
>containing the rendered remains of British cattle, some of which carried a
>mysterious disease agent called an infectious prion.
>
>A number of species that ate the tainted animal feed, including cats and
>hoofed animals, developed sponge-like holes in their brains and died in
much
>the same way that British cattle were dying from mad cow disease.
>
>As a result, feed manufacturers stopped adding British beef to their
>products in 1996.
>
>That year, Dr. Noelle Bons, a neurobiologist at Montpellier University in
>France reported that a rhesus monkey and two lemurs from the local zoo
died
>of a brain disease similar to mad cow disease. But a link to animal feed
>could not be proved.
>
>In the study reported today, Dr. Bons and her colleagues fed a large
portion
>of infected cattle brain to two young lemurs that had never before eaten
>meat. One animal received one dose, equivalent to a 154-pound person's
>eating a one-pound hamburger made entirely from cow brain. The second got
>two similar doses a couple months apart. After five months, one animal
>showed "a loss in vitality" and was killed by its cage mates, Dr. Bons
said.
>Researchers then euthanized the other lemur, and the tissues of both
animals
>were examined for the presence of infectious prions.
>
>Another 20 lemurs from three French zoos were also euthanized as part of a
>program to cull certain animals. Two showed subtle neurological symptoms
but
>the other 18 appeared normal. All had eaten animal feed containing British
>beef for many years.
>
>Finally, 3 young lemurs that had never eaten beef were also euthanized;
they
>showed no signs of infectious prions, Dr. Bons said.
>
>But the 2 animals intentionally infected and the 20 lemurs living in
>different zoos showed identical patterns of infection. In primates, the
>infection first takes hold in epithelial tissues of the gut, moves to
>tonsils, esophagus, lymph nodes and spleen and then spreads up the spinal
>cord to the brain, Dr. Bons said.
>
>This is the first time such a pattern has been shown in animals incubating
a
>prion disease, said Dr. Paul Brown, a senior research scientist at the
>National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke in Bethesda,
>Maryland, and co-author of the paper. Dr. Bons said she suspected the
>pattern was typical of most prion diseases, called spongiform
>encephalopathies, found in many mammalian species.
>
>Prion diseases take many years to spread, incubate and produce symptoms,
but
>once symptoms appear the disease usually progresses swiftly and is always
>fatal.
>
>Thus far, 39 people in Britain and one in France have died from nvCJD,
which
>most experts think is contracted from eating infected beef, particularly
>brain tissue
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
